Saudi Prince Salman’s visit to revitalise economy: PM Khan, Umar

Prime Minister Imran Khan says Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan is a manifestation of the strength of bilateral and economic relationship between the two nations.

In an interview with Jeddah based Saudi daily newspaper, he said the main highlight of Prince Salman’s visit will be the signing of the MoU with respect to the oil refinery, which is Saudi Arabia’s largest investment in Pakistan’s history.

Ten MoUs including one on a 10 billion dollar oil refinery in Gwadar and petrochemical complex in Gwadar will be signed with the Saudi Government during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince.

The Saudi side has indicated that the capacity of proposed oil refinery will be between 250,000-300,000 bpd (11-13 million tons per annum).

It has expressed strong interest in exploring investment opportunities in Pakistan’s Petrochemical sector which was termed as a ‘game changer’ and would result in savings of 1.2 billion dollars per annum in import substitution.

Eight other MoUs will also be signed, including in sectors like ,mineral development, renewable energy resources, drug control and its smuggling, youth and sports, combating crime and cultural cooperation.

Finance Minister Asad Umar has said the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is a historic visit which will lay the foundation of taking the economic relations between the two countries to the next higher level.

Talking to the media, he said it is heartening that a Saudi energy company is taking interest to make investment in Pakistan in the energy sector. He said economy cannot run without energy.

The Finance Minister said the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince will take the bilateral relations to the new heights.